--This experience caused us to think ab lot about "why we do things."
--The Classroom Exchanges piece of this project was presented in a great way. We received info that helped.
...getting more examples of filled out classroom exchange forms would have been helpful. also some examples of possible "comments" on the forms would be great to have for part time and full time faculty.
...having each college present their posters would have been a good idea.
...have a separate page on the wiki for each part - FI, CATs, Classroom Exchanges, etc...
--This was my 1st experience and the entire retreat has been noteworthy. It was very exciting, eye-opening and extremely useful experience.
--Hearing what other schools were doing, the work my own colleagues have done and want to do sounds great, challenging and overwhelming at the same time.
--It has made me want to try some different things in my classroom to improve the understanding of my own students.
...I know that time is always a factor, but I hated having to choose which lecture/activity to go to. i would have like to go to all of them. it would be nice if at some future "retreat"/meeting that this might be possible.
...the support that i have seen at this gathering has been great and i hope it continues through the rest of the project (I'm sure it will). The advise & words of encouragement were something of a new experience for me. I really appreciated all the input, Thanks so much.
--The extended team time was extremely important in helping the team formulate a common vision to be presented to the rest of the department
--Throughout the project, the expert resource people you have brought together is incredible. The one-time presenters as well as the grant-long resource people.
--The variety of methods and tools you have introduced to help create truly professional teaching/learning communities focused on improving student learning and understanding.
...more help in formulating "good" inquiry questions.
...fewer times when the teams are split among presentations.
--Getting adjuncts to come to these retreats with us has been extremely valuable. I feel it's improved the richness of our conversations & the likelihood of success of the project. It's especially helped s design what I believe is a more reasonable & focused plan than might have been otherwise.
--Having department members here with us who haven't been in from the start, and seeing how differently they react to hearing the info from the presenters directly instead of from us when we we return is striking. I don't now exactly how I feel about it, but I'm so glad they've come & I'd like to have more people have the same experience.
...while the design and work of our project of course needs to be done by us & within our won "real school lives", much of what we're planning to implement is new to all of us (to varying degrees), most especially the facilitation of this kind of implementation
...I've got the sense that some of this may be in the works, but providing some development in effective facilitation of these types of groups (even just presenting the "plan" to the dept & all that might entail) could prove to be very helpful.
...bridging the gap between what we do here & then bringing it to fruition in our departments is significant, of course.
Sorry for rambling...I'm pooped :)
EXERCISE #2: "NOTEWORTHY.../...PLEASE CONSIDER"
Additionally, participants were requested to comment on the following:
Due to the length of the entries, a separate page has been allocated to each college's submissions:
SPOKANE FALLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE:
--The Classroom Exchanges piece of this project was presented in a great way. We received info that helped.
...having each college present their posters would have been a good idea.
...have a separate page on the wiki for each part - FI, CATs, Classroom Exchanges, etc...
--Hearing what other schools were doing, the work my own colleagues have done and want to do sounds great, challenging and overwhelming at the same time.
--It has made me want to try some different things in my classroom to improve the understanding of my own students.
...the support that i have seen at this gathering has been great and i hope it continues through the rest of the project (I'm sure it will). The advise & words of encouragement were something of a new experience for me. I really appreciated all the input, Thanks so much.
--Throughout the project, the expert resource people you have brought together is incredible. The one-time presenters as well as the grant-long resource people.
--The variety of methods and tools you have introduced to help create truly professional teaching/learning communities focused on improving student learning and understanding.
...fewer times when the teams are split among presentations.
--Having department members here with us who haven't been in from the start, and seeing how differently they react to hearing the info from the presenters directly instead of from us when we we return is striking. I don't now exactly how I feel about it, but I'm so glad they've come & I'd like to have more people have the same experience.
...I've got the sense that some of this may be in the works, but providing some development in effective facilitation of these types of groups (even just presenting the "plan" to the dept & all that might entail) could prove to be very helpful.
...bridging the gap between what we do here & then bringing it to fruition in our departments is significant, of course.
Sorry for rambling...I'm pooped :)